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May 26, 2012

In the history of FIFA World Cups, the Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean Association Football (for short: CONCACAF) has remarkably often made big achievements with regard to officiating.

Paramount examples of that are not merely Mexican referees Benito Archundia, Marco Rodriguez and the Guatemalan Carlos Batres, who joined two World Cups each, but do also exist in deeper history taking into account the final referee of 1990 FIFA World Cup Italy, Mexican official Edgardo Codesal Mendez.

Edgardo Codesal Mendez (c.) (c) TARINGA

Mexico is along with New Zealand and Uruguay the only country that is allowed to supply two referees at a World Cup in recent history. As FIFA is applying the "confederation neutrality principle", which means a referee is only allowed to oversee matches if either no team or both teams are belonging to his own confederation. The time when UEFA officials like Luis Medina Cantalejo or Lubos Michel refereed important World Cup clashes of e.g. Germany or France against South American teams, is definitely over and FIFA will probably continue this precept at the next World Cups as well. 7 out of 8 teams that joined the semifinals at the last two World Cups belonged to the UEFA zone, only Uruguay were an exception. But, what if there are two semifinals with European-South American ties in 2014? Who will referee these matches then? For this reason, the importance or more likely the need of excellent referees from every confederation are immense. The AFC referees have been very strong at the last World Cup, especially Ravshan Irmatov and Yuichi Nishimura. CONCACAF and the others have to follow.

FIFA has selected a total amount of seven officials from this confederation, who are on the list now. From the first list, which contained ten names, only Raymond Bogle (Jamaica), Walter Quesada (Costa Rica) and Enrico Wijngaarde (Suriname) have been removed.

The still remaining referees' chances should be analyzed in the following, whereas it must be emphasized that it is not totally clear how many officials will be selected per the respective federation. In 2010, the "minor confederations" AFC, CAF and CONCACAF were allowed to pose four officials each, including one solely acting as fourth official (3+1; CAF only had three due to Benouza's injury). The South American zone, CONMEBOL, was presented by five referees plus a fourth official (5+1). Besides, the Ecuadorian Carlos Vera and the Arabian Ali Albadwawi, who are both on the pre list, too, have stated that their confederations will pose seven officials (6+1), respectively five officials (4+1). In fact, that is one official more each, which could mean that also five CONCACAF officials will be nominated.

Having functioned as fourth official at 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, Salvadoran official Joel Aguilar has gained plenty of reputation during the last two seasons, especially in 2011, when he oversaw the Gold Cup final between the United States and Mexico and refereed the first leg of the Champions League final as well. The nomination for 2011 FIFA Club World Japan followed then, he oversaw a semifinal there. Before 2010, he had taken charge of matches at 2007 FIFA U17 World Cup Canada.

Born in 1975, he has quite a lot of experience to offer for his still young age. At the moment, he seems to be by far CONCACAF's no.1. Along with his excellent and young assistant referees William Torres Mejia (1975) and Juan Francisco Zumba (1982), he should be actually a very safe bet for the final list of 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.

(c) CONCACAF

Another talent that is heavily pushed by CONCACAF and FIFA is the Guatemalan Walter Lopez Castellanos (l.), who has certainly the theoretical chance to follow in the steps of the already mentioned two times World Cup official Carlos Batres.

Two reasons reinforce that: apart from being 33 years old at the time, when the World Cup will be held, mentioned Carlos Batres is joining the FIFA Referee Committee and it is surely no disadvantage to have a countryman behind oneself. In addition, his prospective assistant referees are very strong. Alongside Walter's brother, Gerson Lopez Castellanos, an eagle eye concerning offside decisions, the two times World Cup assistant referee and - if a ranking for assistant referees existed - the probably best North- and Central American assistant referee from Costa Rica, Leonel Leal, is another very good reason for nominating this trio, since I personally cannot imagine that latter will have to stay at home.

Lopez Castellanos joined last year's FIFA U20 World Cup Colombia and showed, taking everything into consideration, good performances in mostly high profile matches. He has also arrived at the peak of refereeing in CONCACAF competitions, underlined by his appointment for (and good performance in) the Gold Cup semifinal between Honduras and Mexico in 2011.

After these two Central American trios, the next official from the Southern part of this region follows. The Panamamian Roberto Moreno(r.) is certainly, despite of all the quality and class he surely has, the alleged outsider of this group of seven. This has its reason in the fact that on the one hand other federations have more power and influence on the Committee and its decisions and on the other hand that the Panamanian league is assuredly not as challenging and professional as the American or the Mexican leagues.

(c) ZIMBIO

Anyway, a very good duo of assistant referees have been prospectively appointed: 1977 born Daniel Williamson from Panama, also one of the best assistant referees in CONCACAF with a large international experience, and 1980 born Keytzel Corrales from Nicaragua will assist him, latter has already joined 2011 FIFA U17 World Cup at Elmer Bonilla's side.

He has joined six Gold Cups and was in charge of 13 World Cup qualifiers so far. In 2011, he refereed the 2nd leg of the Champions League final. Moreno also participated in 2008 Olympic Games China and 2010 FIFA Club World Cup (both times along with Williamson), where he received one match each. Based on the international experience, Moreno is therefore along with Mexican referee Rodriguez the number 1. The question is to what extent FIFA will be interested in his palmarès. His performances at the most important Gold Cup matches were very good by the way. Invitations to more competitions should clarify his quality on FIFA level, unfortunately, he has not received an Olympic call-up.

After this, there are still two nations that are both offering two officials each.
The US American refereeing have to cope with a sobering statistic: they did not pose any referee at the last two World Cups (except Kevin Stott as fourth official in 2006). Even though the USA had never been the biggest referee nation, it was certainly a reason for more development. The result of that is clear: two Americans are on the short list for 2014 World Cup.Jair Marrufo, born in 1977, living in El Paso, Texas, and being the son of a former Mexican referee, has already a lot of international experience: After having participated in 2008 Olympic Games, he also received two Gold Cup call-ups, where he handled one match both times.
His regular assistant referee Charles Morgante will moreover not
accompany Marrufo at a possible World Cup. Eric Boria from the United
States and the Jamaican Ricardo Morgan, who has a large international
experience and worked along with Marrufo at 2008 Olympic Games, too, are
the new assistant referees.
In addition to this, he was observed by witnesses accepting a jersey of the Mexican player Blanco after the match. Due to his Mexican roots and probably this incident, too, he may not handle any Mexican team again, of course this is a disadvantage. Furthermore, he was suspended by the American federation for poor performances in 2009/10 and was subsequently removed from FIFA's prospective list of referees for 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.
His chances hence seem to be the smallest of all the officials, bolstered by the fact that FIFA seems to have taken a fancy to Mark Geiger. Latter had been nominated for 2011 FIFA U20 World Cup and refereed four matches in Colombia including the final between Brazil and Portugal. One could receive split impressions from him, after all, he proved to be a reliable referee. Mark Hurd from the United States and the Canadian Joe Fletcher complete his team, which worked at the U20 World Cup in this form as well. As former top class assistant referee Hector Vergara of Canada, who is holding the record of World Cup matches as assistant referee (14), is now joining FIFA Referee Committee, he might push his countryman Fletcher in a remarkable way.
Geiger and his assistant referees received a call-up for 2012 Olympic Games London and thus get the chance to cement their leading position "against" Marrufo's team.

Mexico's Marco Rodriguez (r.), widely better known as "Chiquidracula", has as already mentioned joined two World Cups, where he oversaw two Group Stage matches both times and issued four red cards in these four matches. He must be seen as card happy referee, who certainly enjoys being in the middle of attention to a certain extent. This became clear when he had issued two yellow cards at the same time in last year's Mexican final. As consequence, he was suspended by the federation, as he abused the normal function of a referee. His strengths are probably the technical area and his presence, even though one really has to say that control was not really assured in his previous World Cup clashes. Until now, he has also joined four Gold Cups in the United States (in 2011, he was in charge of a semifinal there).

(c) ZIMBIO

In addition to this, he has refereed an enormous amount of 15 World Cup qualifiers in CONCACAF zone, he sent eleven players off in these ties. 2007 FIFA Club World Cup and 2009 FIFA U20 World Cup Egypt count to his international palmarès as well. At South Africa's World Cup, he accompanied Benito Archundia in the third-place match between Uruguay and Germany.
Born in 1973, he still could reach two World Cups. His chances are difficult to evaluate, in particular due to the immense dents he suffered during the last two years.
Doubts have to be raised whether he will attend 2014 FIFA World Cup, which is intensified by his rising countryman Roberto García, who participated in 2011 FIFA U17 World Cup in his home country. He there officiated five matches, three of them with Brazilian involvement including their loss in the third-place match against Germany. In the first four matches, one could receive a flawless impression of this referee, unfortunately, he blatantly fell for an obvious dive in the last match of the competition. At this competition, he was accompanied by Alejandro Ayala and Marcos Quintero.
His international experience is naturally not that large as his countryman's one. In 2009, he had refereed one match at Gold Cup, before he took control over the 2nd leg of the Mexican league final in April 2012 between Santos Laguna and Monterrey. He will be one of 16 referees at 2012 Olympic Games London.
Besides, he appeared as calm and more likely lenient referee in his only FIFA tournament so far - contrary to Rodriguez.
There is one point which could define or indicate a tendency exposing FIFA's preference between these two Mexicans: the assistant referees.

Mexico's no.1 (c) Femexfut

While José Camargo(l.) (1973) and Alberto Morín (1980) accompanied Rodriguez at 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa (Camargo also assisted him at 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany), these best Mexican assistant referees will prospectively assist García. At the same time, the also experienced Marvin Torrentera (1971) and Marcos Quintero (1973) will be at Rodriguez' side. Torrentera was Archundia's second assistant referee in 2010.
This move must mean something. It seems to be a strong signal for García, but not necessarily one against Rodriguez. As Mexico had two referees at the last World Cups each, why not this time as well? I cannot imagine that FIFA is going to ignore a two times World Cup referee.
For this reason, I undoubtfully expect two Mexican referees.

Taking everything into account, one has again to lay emphasis on the importance of political decisions. It is quite sure that Mexican or American officials will have - in case of doubt - more arguments for a potential nomination. Despite of the fact that pending tournaments like the Olympic Games, the Club World Cups and the youth tournaments will make the so far received impressions clearer, there is already a tendency which can be drawn and which is embodied by the results of the recently done poll in this blog, which is naturally not representative.

The community of this blog would select the following five officials (4+1) for the next World Cup from CONCACAF zone (in chronological order in compliance with the descending amount of received votes, the percentage of all the votes in brackets [ ] ):

Finally, this is my choice as well, although I more likely think that there will be a fight between Geiger's and Lopez Castellanos' team for the fourth place as main referee. I finally believe that history has shown that Mexican referees are obviously favourized by the world federation FIFA.

After another successful season in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, additional assistant referees will continue their work at the forthcoming European Championship in Poland and Ukraine as well. Howard Webb and Jonas Eriksson spoke about this experiment to UEFA.com.

Positioned at the bylines, they support the main referee with judgments on incidents in the box, e.g. infringements like fouls or handball offenses or on the question of whether the ball potentially crossed the line.

Prepared with the experience of more than a dozen of UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches having worked along with these “added eyes”, Howard Webb clearly emphasizes the benefit of this aid for the rest of the team. “When I go to these games with these additional assistant referees, I am going to the game with two experienced, usually FIFA listed officials on my side. They are giving me judgment on important situations in and around the penalty area, from angles I could never hope to get as a match official, as a referee on the field of play.[…] One of the most telling camera angles is the one behind the goals, the one which shows the way the play develops towards the goal, and that is a position we can never ever get normally. These guys are going out to these games and are giving me that view.”

Furthermore, the 2010 UEFA Champions League final and 2010 FIFA World Cup final referee unveils insights in how a referee team consisting of six officials challenged an upcoming match. “We can now spread the responsibilities, so we are looking at two things at once. We are speaking all the time on […] our communication system to do this, to say >Ok, you watch this and I watch that<, to talk about situations developing behind my back, if you see two players becoming argumentative, you can say >Be careful, turn around<, so the benefits are really endless for me."

Moreover, the avail of this IFAB authorized, perpetual experiment to solve, above all, the problem the referees are confronted with, which is being whether the ball crossed the line at full volume, is bolstered by the statements of EURO referee Jonas Eriksson of Sweden. Having refereed six UEFA Champions League matches in the last season, the Swedish confirms that “his experience from over ten matches, when [there were] six referees, is really positive”. In addition, “the players are aware that there are referees in the respective penalty areas, who can assist and influence the match, as they are deterred ensuring that the players do not commit any foolishness they would have otherwise done”, Eriksson states.

With the aid of the “17th team” including the additional assistant referees, UEFA can pose their part to provide a brilliant and exciting EURO tournament starting in two weeks.

May 21, 2012

In compliance to the observers having put forward their assessments on the respective performances shown in the recent 2011/12 season, Portuguese Pedro Proença has ascended the throne of the UEFA Elite Group refereeing - at least in the European federation's club competitions.

Pedro Proença at Munich final (c) yahoo

Based on a certain system, which is targeted at displaying the amount of performances and their degree of quality, Pedro Proença has basically drawn a profit from last Saturday's UEFA Champions League final he was in charge of. According to the World of Football Refereeing observers, he has featured "a very good performance", whereas two Germans were able to occupy the first and third place on the list showing the average marks.

In the following, the results of the full list of awarded marks for the 25 officials, who were joining the ELITE Group at the start of the season, respectively became ELITE in December 2011, and who acted in the three major UEFA club competitions (UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Super Cup) are be presented. As the number of matches is heavily drifting apart between those 25 officials - not merely due to performance reasons, but also and especially due to other circumstances like in Frank de Bleeckere's case a retirement due to the age limit -, the average marks of the shown performances is exposed here, too.

Probably, this list is more expressive than the list demonstrating the total amount of marks.

The last list is solely considering the twelve officials who have been selected to officiate at 2012 UEFA EURO Poland/Ukraine.

It has to be again laid enormous emphasis on the fact that the displayed marks are the respective averages of the marks given to the concerned referee in the concerned match by not only one, but mostly a lot of neutral observers.

1. Total Amount of marks (factorized with regard to the different importance of the match):